


Mind Control

by Charley79



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:15:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27330331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Charley79/pseuds/Charley79
Summary: Talon has Jesse. Hanzo hunts them down. Overwatch is reminded of what Hanzo was raised to be and everyone is reminded why you should be very scared of dragons.
Relationships: Jesse McCree/Hanzo Shimada
Comments: 2
Kudos: 71
Collections: Danger & Dread: A McHanzo Horror Collection





	Mind Control

**Author's Note:**

> This was for the canceled Danger and Dread vine. Had a lot of fun working with that group but this one did make me cry.

It had been six months since Talon took Jesse. Six months that had seen Hanzo furiously, frantically, searching for any sign of his lover. Chasing any lead. Going on any mission with the smallest chance of Talon involvement. The rest of Overwatch was right there behind him. Chasing leads and studying surveillance, searching for any indication of where the cowboy had been taken.

All info pertaining to Talon was meticulously studied. The one prisoner they captured seemed only capable of spouting gibberish about “mind control” and swearing at “that crazy witch.” The other agents had quickly realized that the man no longer retained the level of brain function needed to respond to interrogation. 

Hanzo had stared at the shell of a human before him, horror pouring into his heart as visions of Jesse superimposed themselves over top of the man. He'd watched the gibbering husk being loaded into an ambulance from a neighboring rooftop. The nightmare images of his lover taking deep root in his thoughts. Was that the fate Jesse was facing? Being reconditioned into a mindless doll by the ever-improving techniques of Dr. O'dorian while Overwatch continued to fail, while  _ he _ continued to fail? A shiver went down his spine, the dragons vibrating with their shared frustrations and fear.

Winston, Mei, and the other scientists doubled down on studying Moira’s techniques. There was an under current to all their actions,though. A dark feeling of hope dying. They kept trying to find something, anything, that they could use to break Talon’s hold, and Athena combed through every tape she could to find Jesse. No one was saying it, but the chances that McCree was going to be under mind control only grew the longer he was gone. And everything the team could find was pointing to a very all-inclusive and thorough process. Where the chance of safe removal was extremely low, extremely dangerous, and had an exceedingly high probability of terminal failure.

Hanzo knew all of this. He kept tabs on the teams’ progress even as he kept running missions, hunting down leads. The dragon and his spirits became the boogeyman of the underworld. Hitting any and all Talon bases he caught wind of with a cold minded ferocity that was discussed only in hushed whispers in the dingy dens of smugglers, bounty hunters, and the like. Even those who had known the man before as only a nameless mercenary stayed back when he visited the dank haunts. 

Something in the man’s eyes gave even the old hunters pause. Not even when he had been freshly off fratricide and killing most of his elders had the dragon looked so violently close to the edge. And as the man sat in a dark corner studying his phone, anyone present could tell that there was a man who’d gotten sick of waiting. When he stood, killed his drink, and walked out a collective shiver went through the patrons. That was a man with no limits left holding him back.

Hanzo stuck to the shadows, heading to a transport station. Athena had just alerted him to the high probability of Jesse being on a heist of the defunct Grand Mesa base. She gave him a 76.785% chance and had also told him that the latest news from the scientists was dimming. She stopped short when his vitals became erratic. She understood that the news she gave was not good but that Agent Shimada would prefer to have all the facts this way. His chances of success improved the more details she gave him.

He arrived in Colorado and began the drive to Grand Junction without truly remembering the trip. He kept running over the stats Athena had given him. He had a copy of the base’s blueprints, including those of the Blackwatch area. When he’d asked, Athena had said that Reyes had left backdoors,  _ if  _ someone knew where to look.

The first time he laid eyes on Jesse in over nine months, Hanzo could tell that his lover was firmly one of Talon’s pets. The warm, hazel eyes that used to hold such light and warmth now shone with a glaring red, as if he’d been overusing Deadeye. Gone were the serape, worn chaps, and broken-in clothes. The gunslinger  _ shown  _ in the pressed and tailored ensemble of blacks and reds. The pants, vest, and shirt were of a high quality, Hanzo was certain. The long black coat fit his lover well and the leather holster and boots shone with a suppleness that Hanzo knew Jesse would never pick out on his own. In fact, looking closer, Hanzo could see all the details indicating Akande’s hand.

His dragons bristled at the implication of Akande outfitting Jesse. The man had been an annoyance, constantly trying to draw Hanzo to Talon’s, and his', side. But this!? Hanzo bared his teeth at all the finer trappings of possession, done deliberately. The Successor had stolen from the Scion, an insult that demanded retribution.

Hanzo stayed hidden, watching the comings and goings of Talon. Getting a feel for their schedule. The sitting still would have drowned him except that he could see his lover. Could know that Talon wasn’t doing anything further to him. It made his blood boil but Hanzo knew the scientists needed every detail he could find for them. So he'd steal into the doctor’s lab and send them pictures of everything he could. He was barely holding it together but the team was coming, only 4 hours behind him. 

Then a klaxon started blaring. He kept himself still by sheer training but Talon agents were scattering, clearing the base out. And the cowboy was gone! Hanzo looked around quickly, finally catching sight of him through his dragons. He knocked an arrow, aiming for the scientist by McCree’s side but then the cowboy stood in the way, holding his gaze. There. A flash of hazel in his Deadeye, and then the men blinked out. Hanzo latched on to that flash of his love and fired the dragons. Talon would NOT be getting anything else.

All that was left were cooked husks and fried wiring when the others arrived. He’d kept the dragons from Moira’s lab but they were furious. Hanzo had watched as they tore through everything else with a grim satisfaction.

Solder had tried to bitch him out but one look from Mercy had shut the man up. She gave Hanzo a nod and gingerly entered the lab, Zenyetta right behind her in case of any traps.

Hanzo headed outside. His emotions were everywhere and he needed to regain control. But it wasn’t easy. Jesse had been right there. Hanzo could have leapt down and had him. A dark voice within growled that not so long ago he would have done just that. Would have slit anyone’s throat that dared touch what was his. The man he’d been back in the clan wouldn’t have hesitated to do any of that. And, a dark voice purred, the cowboy did look so very good cleaned up and in such finery.

Hanzo growled and shook his head, pulling himself out of the past just in time to catch the glint off a barrel. His body reacted before his conscious mind, firing off a set of Storm arrows with a speed his love would have heartily complimented. 

He swung over to the adjacent rooftop, securing Widowmaker in zip ties at ankles and wrists before she could recover. He carried her over to the Orca and dropped her none too gently on a medical cot, securing her to it. 

Once back in Gibraltar, the others got together with Mercy and Zen, talking through all the data gathered from Grand Mesa. Winston called Hanzo into the room and discussed the theory they had devised.

The nanites flowing in Widow and, presumably, Jesse were too concentrated, and adapted too quickly for a regular high jolt of electricity or an EMP to have much effect. What was needed was a concentrated, surgical strike of electricity. One with enough power to destroy all the nanites. As Winston explained the process it hit Hanzo what their plan was. He would need to release the dragons in a highly charged, but incredibly focused, way. And, for Jesse’s sake, he needed to rein that power in to just shy of lethal.

The dragons were in his ears, furiously arguing, but listened when he stated the Widow would be their practice run to find the exact right level of not-quite-lethal. He firmly told them that they HAD to get this right or they might very well kill Jesse. They agreed, still growling about letting the woman live. He added that once it was done,and they had Jesse, he would release them to do as they wished.

He entered the interrogation room where Widow was being held. Her cold eyes gave nothing away beyond a raised eyebrow. He stood to the side and took in the woman Talon had made into a monster. She merely held his gaze, not even tensing as the elder dragon stepped close. In a calm, detached, voice, he told her what he was about to do. He told her the chances of surviving the procedure compared to her chances if she attempted to escape. He then stepped closer and placed a hand on her shoulder.

The dragons flowed down his arm and surged into her. They remembered their master’s words. They must aim their powers to destroy what was not organically human. They must strike only that which was a false parasite, deeply rooted in the despised woman’s body. But not kill. Not yet. They must practice to save the master’s love.

They turned around after completing their first pass. Master remained as he had been. The woman was slumping only a little but they could feel how difficult their passage had been on her body. They wished to smile at that but the parasite had survived, so they flowed back into her body. They felt her tense up, her pain as they mercilessly hunted the parasitic nanites and destroyed them. They used that to find the not-quite-lethal level for Jesse.

It took two more passes before it had all been destroyed. The despicable woman still drew breath so they had succeeded. That she had passed out was not their concern.

When the dragons returned to him, Hanzo stepped back. He informed Mercy and Winston that the dragons believed all the nanites had been destroyed. He noted the way they looked at him, fear at the monster he was becoming in their eyes. He couldn’t find it in himself to care or explain. He kept the disinterested gaze of an oyabun and left the room. He could not change the fact that they had just witnessed him easily falling back into the skin of a clan scion. As he rubbed a hand down his tattoo he felt unified in his purpose. All the parts of his soul wanted the cowboy back. And he would have no compunctions doing whatever it took. 

The next day he joined the others in Winston’s lab. The scientist and Mercy shared all the data they had gathered during Widomaker’s…procedure. The scientist casting a quick eye at the archer but the man may as well have been stone.

Mercy came forward and filled the team in on everything Widowmaker, no, Amelie, had told them once she had woken up. And it was Amelie again, the procedure had worked! But Hanzo’s face fell into a hard scowl as she continued.

Dr. O'dorian had greatly improved on the process used to make Widow. It was a much more thorough conditioning, with many layers of failsafes to guarantee that the Outlaw was completely programmed. That was why it had been so long before they'd seen Jesse. O'dorian had been insidiously thorough in the usage of nanites.

Hanzo started getting a bad feeling as Mercy explained. The dragons rolled with him, agitated under his skin. She displayed a picture of Jesse's systems taken at his last physical. The sheer amount of black infesting his body was staggering. And as Hanzo looked closer he felt his heart freeze.

He knew the human body. Was an expert at killing using weak points in most of the body’s systems. The sheer magnitude of interweaving that Odorian had implemented covered all the avenues he had personally used to kill. And some that he’d only ever thought of back when he was scion and an example had been required.

He focused on the image as the others reacted, asking his dragons to memorize it completely and try and find a way to eradicate it all. He felt their trepidation but they were already working through it. They would not allow that computerized parasite to remain in their Jesse.

He rose when Winston went over the mission plan. Talon was going to try and hit a part of Lumerco outside of Dorado. Given the area, there was a very good chance of McCree being used. Hanzo went and grabbed his bow and quiver, filling the latter with many arrows. He knew how Jesse fought. He knew he would have to keep up without hurting him.

They landed in Dorado, taking position quickly. The others focused on Lumerco as Hanzo maintained his perch, making sure they didn’t get flanked. Ana and he had agreed that was the likeliest place for Jesse to attack from. And a quick flash off a short barrel in an alley proved them right. Hanzo informed the team and went in pursuit, knowing Ana had the rest of them.

He slid down a staircase and brought the pursuit to ground, knowing he’d have a better chance of not being spotted as he whipped around corners, sticking to shadows. The Outlaw would know to look up for him and Hanzo intended to use that. The plan worked as Hanzo pinned him down in a building, away from the other Talon operatives. Not that the Outlaw was going easy on him. 

They traded arrows for bullets, matching each other shot for shot. Hanzo finally got an arrow through the Outlaw's prosthetic, disabling it, and closed in. He knew from sparring that the Outlaw’s CQC was formidable, but this fight reminded him of the clan. Fierce, intense, lethal. But Hanzo wished no harm to his love and the Outlaw lacked that hindrance.

He finally got the Outlaw in a choke hold but a gun hit his temple, stunning him long enough to be thrown off. As he rose to his knees, Akande’s voice rang out. It was the same old line; to realize his true potential, return his clan to greatness, and be with the cowboy if  _ that _ was what he wished. Akande sneered the last part as he leered over the downed man, asking if Hanzo enjoyed the improvements Akande had made. Hanzo seethed but kept his face unimpressed as the man droned on, casting a quick glance to the Outlaw.

And there, in his right eye, Hanzo caught Deadeye flickering. His eyes opened a fraction wider as the Outlaw’s went brown. He watched as those eyes cycled from brown to red and back, his dragons flowing out of him. One dragon wound around Jesse, offering it's support but not touching. 

Akande kept droning on in the background, stating that if Hanzo doesn’t join Talon the Outlaw  _ would  _ shoot him. At that, Hanzo locks eyes with Jesse and knows it’s his cowboy. And he’s struck with horror as his dragons show him exactly what Talon has done. The mind control snakes through his lover’s body, completely integrated into Jesse’s vital systems.

Jesse looks down at himself. Looks back at Hanzo. And in his brown eyes Hanzo can see that he knows. Jesse knows how integrated everything is. And he knows what Hanzo has to do. The fight burns in his cowboy’s eyes even after everything Talon  _ did _ to him and  _ made _ him do. His cowboy is back and even as he nods minutely to Hanzo, the love in his eyes is blazing out.

Jesse’s eyes are screaming his love for Hanzo as he sits up tall on his knees, acting as if he was going to aim his gun. Hanzo sees Akande smirk, and then he throws the knife hidden in his sleeve. The dragons roar to life as Hanzo’s cry rips from his throat.

He hears the Talon agents' screams as his dragons emerge, gigantic and furious. Aiming for all of their enemies, not just those directly before them. Hanzo sees nothing beyond Jesse’s smirk as the dragons burst forth. The way he laughs as they hit Akande. And how he throws his arms wide as they engulf him.

His hair bursts into flame, popping and sizzling. Then his skin starts blistering; bubbling up and popping open. The smell of burnt hair and flesh doesn’t even faze Hanzo, stuck as he is, watching Jesse’s skin rip open as the nanites are being burned out of him. Hanzo watches the webs of nanites glow under the power of the dragons, combusting like dry tinder.

Jesse’s fat drips out of lesions that have burst open all over his body, exposing muscles that are blackened. Cooked from the inside out. Sinews and tendons snapping from the heat, those that weren’t ripped apart when the larger wires exploded. Hanzo watches as liquified fat pours through the split, blackened skin as Jesse’s body continues to burn. Muscle clumps falling away to land with a splat on the floor. He watches the white of Jesse’s skull become exposed as his scalp dries and as nanites crackle behind Jesse’s empty eye sockets. Tears roll down Hanzo’s cheeks as all of Talon is burned out of his love. His dragons weeping as they return to him.

He jumps forward to catch Jesse’s body as it falls, cradling him gently as what is left of his brain seeps out the lower ear canal. Hanzo doesn’t know how the skeleton is staying together. There isn’t much left.

The prosthetic is destroyed, a clump of metal and wires. The Talon suit is ash, disintegrating under Hanzo’s fingers. The bastardized version of Peacekeeper has been melted to slag. All that remains of the man is a smoldering skeleton with odd bits of cooked and semi-liquified tissue clinging on.

Hanzo can barely see through the tears as he gathers Jesse’s form to his chest. His face in the smoldering remains of the hat. His dragons are weeping, encircling the men. But Hanzo startles as he feels Jesse move. He gasps, his eyes flying to the skull. There, staring out from the right eye socket, is Deadeye; as bright and beautiful as ever, taking in Hanzo and the dragons. His eyes widen as, in his peripheral, he sees a bony hand rise to cup his cheek.

“Always so beautiful when you're wrapped up in their glow, Darlin.” The drawl comes out in an eerie echo, bouncing around inside the skull.

Even in his shock Hanzo tries to speak, but a bony finger to his lips stops him.

“Don’t you fret, Darlin’. Didn’t hurt none. Your beasties were downright gentle, even with those Talon bastards making any removal hurt like hell.”

Guilt floods into Hanzo’s eyes but Jesse continues.

“It was the only way, Hanzo.” The skull assures him even as it gets heavier, Deadeye dimming. “They had the nanites everywhere. Only way was to burn 'em all.”

The fingers brush gently over his cheek as the skeleton settles heavy in Hanzo’s arms.

“Least I got to see you again.”

Hanzo’s breath catches on a sob as the skeleton collapses into his chest. Deadeye floats out from the eye socket, brushing against Hanzo’s cheek and floating around each dragon’s head before rising up, fading into the glow of the noon day sun.


End file.
